College basketball's national third-place game, long the target of verbal slings and arrows, is no more. The NCAA committee that governs men's basketball has decided to drop the game, which was little more than an prelim to the championship game.

Committee chairman Wayne Duke explained that most players do not enjoy participating in the game because they have focused all their energies on gaining the finals. The committee also was concerned about a format that forces an outstanding team to complete the season with two losses.

The National Football League, incidentally, realized the folly of meaningless consolations in 1970 by eliminating a short-lived Playoff Bowl between second-place teams.